PERSONAL: Something New

Since entering grad school in September, despite being in the screenwriting stream, a constant theme from all corners so far has been:

“Get something made.”

Though I love scripts, and I think they work fine on their own when done right, I can’t help agree with some of the sentiment in this vein. There’s something electric about bringing that vision to life with actors, lighting, sets, the whole package. No matter the budget, if it’s well done it can be magic. Plus, though writing is my first and true love, I know that to do what I want to do, I’ll have to develop a broader skill set than just sitting on my ass typing on Final Draft. The most prominent of these ‘needs improvement/experience’ areas is directing.

So I’m preparing to dabble.

I’m big on low-budget alternatives for production, and one thing I’m really intrigued by is the idea of filming something via iPhone. The idea that something already in my pocket can be a professional-grade camera with some help may be a fantasy, but I want to find out if there’s something to the myth.

My first step is to turn my iPhone into a viable production machine. The biggest flaw I’ve heard re: filming with iPhone is the weak microphone. The first step on my experiment, then, was getting my hands on:

A shotgun mic for iPhone! Sadly it doesn’t have a custom windsock, which will be a pain, but these initial tests will largely be inside in relatively sterile environments. At this phase, after all, I’m mostly playing around. I’m also going to get a tripod for the phone. This experiment will be pretty cheap by most standards, and give me the chance to stretch some of my non-writing muscles, particularly producing and directing.

A friend and I are planning to, perhaps over the summer, start exploring the world of super indie production. Perhaps if those tests are successful we’ll try a zero-budget webseries, not to make our names but to explore our capabilities.

2 responses to “PERSONAL: Something New”

You and your individuality, I respect. If it isn’t enough to do only what you love, you always find a way of taking the next step with unique creativity and conscientiousness for efficiency. If it isn’t enough that formidable people already appreciate your work, you make it embody that kind of twist that makes it even more shocking that it can be admirable (in this case I’m talking about low-budget ambitions and characters/concepts of an apparently unpopular orientation and/or demographic). You know, if ever for some reason you were to fall into the mediocrity of producing art that only you can enjoy, I’d still be a big fan. And I need to cut back on the sentimental value of what I write to you. Your birthday card is going to make you positively nauseous.